The University of Nanking (éÂÂéµ大å¸) was a private university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It was sponsored by a consortium of American churches, including the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Disciples of Christ, and the Presbyterian Church. The university effectively become defunct in 1952, following the 1952 reorganization of Chinese higher education by the central government of the newly established People's Republic of China.
Nanking University (坿ÂÂæÂ¸é¢, Huiwen Shuyuan) was founded in 1888 by C.H. Fowler. Initially there were three faculties: liberal arts, divinity and medicine. In 1910, The Nanking University merged The Union Christian College (å®Âè²æÂ¸é¢, Hongyu Shuyuan, formed in 1900 by the merger of The Christian College (åºç£æÂ¸é¢, Jidu Shuyuan, founded in 1891) and The Presbyterian College (çÂÂæÂºæÂ¸é¢, Yizhi Shuyuan, founded in 1894) and changed the name to Private University of Nanking (éÂÂéµ大å¸).
On April 19, 1911, the university was granted a charter by the regents of the University of the State of New York. The following year, the university graduated its first class with a bachelors of arts degree.
During the Nanking incident of 1927, the university was damaged by looters and Dr. John Elias Williams, the university's vice president was shot and killed. Many faculty members fled for their safety.
In 1951, Ginling College (former Ginling Women University, established in 1913) merged into the University of Nanking. In 1952, the University of Nanking was merged with Nanjing University (Ã¥ÂÂ京大å¸).